Passive House
Heating accounts for over half of the energy used in homes in the UK. This Catalyst article looks at buildings designed to cut heating demand almost to zero. There are over 70,000 passive houses in Europe – just a few of them in the UK. To be described as ‘passive’, a house must meet strict criteria for energy…
Seeing Inside Cells
Each individual blade of grass consists of various tissues, each made of cells in their thousands. In these cells an as yet unknown number of reactions and interactions are constantly taking place. The cells contain different parts known as organelles, which can be thought of as the cellular equivalent of the organs in animals and…
The Other Genome Project
This Catalyst article details how the genome of a plant called Arabidopsis has been unravelled so that this species can act as a model in genetic studies. Arabidopsis thaliana is a model species like the fruit fly Drosophila, yeast, and the bacterium Escherichia coli. Scientists work on these species in order to understand as…
Extremophiles - How to Find Life on Mars
This Catalyst article looks at life in extreme environments on Earth which can suggest how life might exist on Mars. One of the developments in recent years that really opened up scientists’ eyes to the possibility of life on Mars has been the realization of just how adaptable and versatile life on Earth is. The extremophiles…
Ice - Water - Steam
This Catalyst article describes an experiment in which, using a microwave oven, water can be boiled in a cup made of ice, allowing all three states of water to be seen at once. The article explains what equipment needed to carry out the experiment, instructions, and a detailed explanation of why it works.
Mount Etna - Europe's Biggest Volcano
This Catalyst article takes a look at Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, the biggest and tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The article explores the geology of the volcano, its history and the local habitat surrounding it including how the volcanic conditions create rich fertile soil.
Investigating Poisoning
Investigating serious crimes such as murder, rape and terrorism requires forensic science experts. These people work alongside the police to find the evidence that will bring the culprit to court. In this Catalyst article, Tony Hargreaves looks at criminal poisoning and shows how forensic science is used to solve serious murder cases.
Adventures in the Amazon
In this Catalyst article, Laura Plant describes the time she spent in the Amazon rainforest in northern Peru on a project researching the impacts of forestry on the plants and animals that live there. In tropical regions, large areas of rainforests have been untouched for centuries. This means that many rare and unique plants…
Uncovering the Magical World of Signalling
This Catalyst article takes a look at the winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2012 who revealed how cells communicate. All functions of the human body require signals to be released, detected by a receptor in the right place and an appropriate response to be mounted. For example, hormones can be released into the blood stream…
Eating Chocolate
This Catalyst article looks at how the structure and properties of chocolate change when it is melted and re-solidified. An experiment is described in which the differences between solid chocolate, and chocolate which has been melted and re-hardened can be found, along with a detailed explanation of the physics involved in this process.
Thermometry... a Hot Topic
In this Catalyst article, Mike Follows describes the surprising range of thermometers available to scientists today. Many physical properties of materials depend on temperature. Thermometers are vital for measuring body temperature. The body's biochemical reactions work best at 37°C and the body is in serious danger if…
Flying Dry
This Catalyst article explores how high-speed photography can reveal how mosquitoes can keep dry while flying in the rain. To find out how mosquitoes survive impacts with raindrops, a group of engineers from Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) developed a system which allowed them to photograph collisions between water droplets…
Memory Myths
This Catalyst article looks at the topic of human memory. While it is clear that memory is essential in so many ways, there are many myths about how memory works. This article explores some of these fairytales and explains what modern psychological science has discovered about how memory really works and why it is so important.
Fracking: an Energy Revolution?
This Catalyst article looks at hydraulic fracking, the process of breaking up rocks deep underground using high-pressure water mixed with sand and chemicals. The process has been used for decades in the energy industry to free oil and gas trapped in rock formations. However, questions have been raised over the environmental impact…
Speak to Me, Lichen
In this Catalyst article, students at La Sainte Union Catholic School in North London investigate the link between lichen species and air pollution around their school. Lichens are indicators of changes in air quality; tolerant species replace those which are sensitive to a given pollutant. This effect is observed across urban…
Winning Science
The 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was won by Gurdon and Yamanaka, for their work on adult stem cells. This Catalyst article explains how they discovered that a nucleus from an egg cell transplanted into a specialised cell can still develop into a fully functional organism. Yamanaka named these cells induced pluripotent…
What Are Stem Cells?
This Catalyst article explains the use of stem cells to treat medical problems, and outlines new possibilities for the use of adult stem cells in treatment. Currently, stem cells used for treatment are embryonic stem cells, since they have the ability to form any cell type in the body. The example of the use of stem cells to…
Hydrogen Powered Cars
As the need to find alternative cleaner forms of energy increases, scientists are looking to technologies, such as Hydrogen Fuel Cells (HFCs), as a power source for transportation. This Catalyst article explains how hydrogen and oxygen gas can be used in a redox reaction to produce electricity, and the harmless by-product, water.…
Solar Disinfection of Drinking Water
Reliance on unsafe drinking water is a significant problem in many areas of the world. This Catalyst article looks at the method of solar disinfection to provide safe drinking water. UVA from the sun causes a breakdown in cellular functions, and combined with the increased temperature of the water from a mini-greenhouse effect…
Astronomer, Photographer
This Catalyst article looks at Thomas Read, a secondary school student from Swindon who explains how he won an award at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition 2012. Thomas was introduced to astronomy at a school club. He decided to enter his photo of the Sunflower Galaxy, taken using a robotic telescope, in the robotic…
The Moon, an Optical Illusion and an Iceberg: Did These Sink the Titanic?
This Catalyst article uses physics to investigate the possible causes of the sinking of the Titanic. Mike Follows explains how the hull of the Titanic was constructed to be watertight, however, the strength of the rivets used on the ship were inadequate. The article shows how the alignment of the sun, Earth and moon on that…
Alison Foster: a Chemist in the World of Plants
Alison Foster has combined her education in Chemistry with her love of plants to engage in some exciting projects at the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens. This Catalyst article gives a profile of her career choices, and introduces a public engagement activity called Chemistry in the Garden. Alison began her career in the pharmaceutical…
Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies or Weetabix
This Catalyst article looks at how scientists can use material recovered from archaeological sites to see how crops have been introduced to different countries over the history of farming. Three processes by which some plant material can be preserved are explained. The ratio of carbon isotopes from the collagen in animal bone can…
Higgs Boson
This Catalyst article looks at the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle discovered by scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva, on July 4th 2012, after it was first predicted almost 50 years earlier. The Higgs boson is predicted by the ‘Standard Model’, which makes up the set of fundamental particles…
ALICE: Extraordinary Nuclear Adventures Underground
This Catalyst article discusses how experiments using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which discovered the Higgs boson, at the CERN laboratory can tell us about the nature of matter in the early universe. ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is one of the experiments taking place at the LHC. It breaks down nuclear matter into…
Seeing Into Bacteria
This Catalyst article describes how biophysics is helping in the search for novel antibiotics. Bacteria produce an array of proteins to kill off their competitors. These proteins, called bacteriocins, are very efficient at penetrating the defensive outer layers of bacteria cells by moving through specific membrane transporter…
Cum Grano Salis
This Catalyst article looks at salt, in particular the process of extracting salt from the sea in the salt factories of Trapani in Sicily. Located on the west coast of the island, the saline (salt ponds) were probably started by the Phoenicians around 3000 years ago. The article also looks at the structure of salt, how it is…
Seeing the Atoms That Will Shape Our Future
As transistors become smaller, the doping of semi-conductors becomes a significant challenge. This Catalyst article looks at how Scanning Tunnelling Microscopes can be used to manipulate individual atoms, to create electronic devices of unprecedented accuracy. The technique could also be used to fabricate quantum bits, leading to…
Clam Shells, Climate Change and Ageing
This Catalyst article looks at the discovery of the Arctica Islandica, a mollusc which carries a record of past environments in the banding of its shell. In 2006, scientists collecting material from the seabed off the north coast of Iceland found some clam shells which remarkably were found to have come from animals having lived…
Curious About Mars
This Catalyst article looks at NASA's Mars Curiosity rover, the automated chemistry lab which landed safely on Mars in August 2012. Capable of analysing samples from the planet's surface and atmosphere, the rover will undertake two years of experiments in the hope of discovering even more about our neighbouring planet. The…
"I Am the Greatest"
This Catalyst article discusses the science behind motivation in sport. Self-efficacy has been shown to have a strong influence on performance in athletes, with those who believe in themselves generally attaining more success than those who are plagued with self-doubt. Psychologists are developing theories to explain how athletes'…
Olympic Alloys
This Catalyst article looks at metals and alloys which play an important role in construction at the Olympic site, both in sports equipment and in medals. Designers must consider the properties of the materials used to make both sports equipment and buildings. These include strength, density, toughness, ductility and resistance to…